France: Cruise ship on lockdown over stomach bug outbreak

French authorities on Wednesday held off a British cruise ship with more than 1,700 passengers and crew, after an elderly man died onboard and dozens suffered a stomach illness.

The vessel Ambition was midway through a 14-night voyage that began in Belfast and Liverpool. It had planned stops in northern Spain and along France's Atlantic coast.

By the time the vessel reached Bordeaux on Tuesday evening, the stomach bug had already spread. The ship's operator, ‌Ambassador Cruise Line, said that sanitation and prevention protocols had been immediately implemented to prevent the spread.

Authorities have ruled out norovirus, a highly contagious form of gastroenteritis which causes vomiting and diarrhea, but secondary tests are still ongoing to find out what cause the passengers to become ill. Food poisoning has not been ruled out, authorities said.

French authorities on Wednesday allowed asymptomatic passengers to leave the cruise ship, saying a gastrointestinal virus caused the outbreak of sickness that came after an elderly man died of a heart attack.

Cruise ships are no strangers to stomach virus outbreaks, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded some 23 gastrointestinal outbreaks on such vessels last year.

Elderly man dies on board

A 92-year-old British passenger died on the cruise, but his death was linked to a heart attack, French health authorities said.

"At this stage, no link has been established with the gastroenteritis episode," officials added.

Nevertheless, Etienne Guyot, the prefect of Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and Gironde department, had initially suspended disembarkation from the vessel and restricted its interactions with the port of Bordeaux.

He acted on the recommendation of the regional health agency, the Agence Regionale de Sante Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Health authorities rule out Hantavirus

The disembarking ban is temporary and pending the outcome of medical tests, officials said.

The French ship's disembarking ban comes as the global health community is grappling with the complex outbreak of the rare hantavirus aboard a cruise ship in the southern Atlantic this month, which killed three people.

Authorities in France clarified that there was no connection between the British vessel parked in Bordeaux and the hantavirus outbreak.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery